Workshop update: Here are some pictures of my current workshop. I recently lost my lease at my former location so I’ve moved as much as I can into a two car garage space I have. It’s a little smaller than my old space in square footage and the eight foot ceiling is taking some getting use to but I’ll manage till I get a new one built. My hats off to all of you that are tickled to have a 450 sq. ft. work space so I’ll just leave it at that.

In the first picture you’ll notice that I set my tablesaw up near the door and went down the wall with a belt/disc sander, drill press, and material stotrage. I set my router table and homemade portable tablesaw outside to use.

In the third picture is my warwagon, planer stand and some of the old tools that I have collected. The warwagon is a metal cart I fished out of the dumpster at a remodel I was working on. I added some cabinet work to it and used it on the remodel. The remodel was the first power plant for San Antonio. It was built in New Braunfels, Texas and closed in the 1970s. The building was converted to an eight story apartment building. I was trimming all of the common areas and other site built millwork that had to be done.The warwagon really comes in handy when we’re doing commercial jobs that require hauling a bunch of hardware around to be installed. And sometimes it’s even been used as a rolling scaffold.

In the fouth picture is my main worktable. It was left ay my former shop by the former landowners sons. It looks ruff now, but it’s laser flat and serves it’s purpose. They made it mostly from pallets and it had a top like a sway back mule when I got it. I skinned it with plywood and have been using it for a few years now.

In the last two photos is my wheeled mitersaw with detachable wings. Pictured here is the left eight foot wooden wing and a small temporary wing so I can close the door. Not pictured is the right eight footer and the aluminum twelve foot wings. The aluminum wings make the “rig” over twenty seven feet long so I don’t get to use them much. With the eight footers it’s around nineteen, but it fits in the back of a standard pickup bed so I use it the most. If you look behind the mitersaw you’ll see my version of dust collection for the mitersaw. In some finished commercial jobs they would make us set up a sheet plastic tent so I came up with that. It’s made from a sheet of FRP (fire retardant panel) and some angle metal used for edges of drop ceilings.

Any pointers, suggestions, or ideas to improve my workspace is always welcome. And thank all of y’all for the kind comments.

Darrell, that is a nice set-up that you have built for dust collection at your miter saw. This tool seems to give most of us a problem when it comes to controlling the sawdust it generates. The dust port on the saw does little to contain the dust. It looks like you have got yours under control.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

Nice looking set up Darrell ! Your the first person to notice that i don,t have a guard on my saw . I bought a replacement guard but i haven,t figured out how to put it on yet . I think i will be getting a new saw this coming summer and then i will build a stationary work station for my old one like yours . I still need a saw that is mobile . I also have a 3 hp dust collector sitting in my shop doing nothing . I should spend a few days organizing my shop :-)

Darn, you fished your war wagon out of a dumpster…I had to pay for mine! I think it was $20 at a recycling center. Guess we both got pretty lucky! Handiest piece of rolling stock around my shop…after the ambulance guerny I got at the Saugus Swapment in CA from an ex-med student. Thanks for your noticing my shop. Have totally enjoyed reading/learning about you. Really neat stuff in your projects, like the western birdhouse.Best Regards,

Hi Derryl. You have a nice orderly shop with a place for everything. I see we both have one of those aluminum picture fram clamps with the orange corner blocks. I use mine all the time and love it. Cheap but effective!!!

-- Jim Jakosh.....Practical Wood Products...........Learn something new every day!! Variety is the Spice of Life!!

You have a real nice shop with lots of tools and equipment. Mine is inside an enclosed carport but I carved off a corner of it to let my wife have a storage area and we still have to walk through the shop to get into the back of the house so I’m a little cramped. I would love to have as much room as you have.

-- If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. Henry David Thoreau